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Shirt Tales
Shirt Tales was an NBC network animated series based on the Hallmark Cards greeting cards characters created by Janet Elizabeth Manco. The show aired from September 18, 1982 to January 30, 1984, lasting for two seasons & 23 episodes. Plot The animated Shirt Tales cartoon featured Tyg Tiger (in orange), Pammy Panda (in pink), Digger Mole (in light blue), Rick Raccoon (in red), and Bogey Orangutan (in green, so called because he spoke using a Humphrey Bogart-style voice). The animals lived in Oak Tree Park and wore shirts which flashed various brightly lit messages reflecting the characters' thoughts. They spent their time teasing the park custodian, Mr. Dinkel and battling crime in and out of their hometown of Mid City. They zipped around the world in a vehicle known as the STSST (Shirt Tales' SuperSonic Transport) which could operate as a car, jet, boat, submarine, and other forms of transportation. Even though most law enforcement agencies knew of the Shirt Tales as crime fighters by reputation, few people seemed aware that they were talking animals—including Mr. Dinkel, whom the group often had to trick to keep their secret safe. Each episode was divided into two 11–minute segments. After the success of the thirteen episodes in Season 1, ten episodes were created for Season 2. However, the show was semi-rebooted and Kip Kangaroo (in yellow) was added to the cast of characters without context for her joining the Shirt Tales. There is also a difference in leadership among the Shirt Tales, in which for the first season Rick appeared to be the de facto leader, but in the second season is instead Tyg. Also several stories in Season 2 either omit Rick altogether or give him a minor role in the story. The second season also added some superhero elements to the dynamic of the group as well, most notably the color of all their T-shirts changing to a bright red color when "Shirt Tale Time" is called for. Buck Beaver (in whitish blue) helped the Shirt Tales use a tree as a bridge in "The Big Foot Incident" and helped them build an ark in "Dinkel's Ark". In the episode "Moving Time", four cousins from out west were introduced for this episode only: Prairie Dog Pete (in red with black vest), Fillmore Fox (in green), Violett Skunk (in yellow), and Hoozitz Owl (in lavender). In "Back to Nature", Cubby Bear (in red) helped the Shirt Tales when a wild bear had Mr. Dinkel chased up a tree. Voice Cast *Nancy Cartwright as Kip Kangaroo (season 2 only) *Robert Allen Ogle as Digger Mole *Patricia Parris as Pammy Panda *Steve Schatzberg as Tyg Tiger/Rick Raccoon (episode 4 only) *Ronnie Schell as Rick Raccoon *Fred Travalena as Bogey Orangutan *Herb Vigran as Mr. Dinkel *William Woodson as Commissioner (season 1 only) Broadcast History Following the initial run on NBC, "Shirt Tales" aired on CBS during the 1984–1985 Saturday morning season, replacing "The Biskitts" in their time slot. CBS aired selected episodes from its two-season NBC run until March 23, 1985, when "The Biskitts" returned to the time slot for the rest of the 1984–1985 season. On March 23, 1985, "Shirt Tales" was pulled from broadcast television for good, and the Hallmark franchise faded not long after as well. The show continued for a number of years as part of USA Network's Cartoon Express block and on Cartoon Network, but also continues to be broadcast in selected countries around the world (including Boomerang). Category:NBC TV shows Category:1980s television series Category:Animation Category:1982 Category:1983 Category:1984